Nikola Tesla, inventor in the realm of
electricity, has had his portrait painted
under a special man-made north light
and last night it was shown for the
first time by the artist, the Princess
Lwoff-Parlaghy, at a reception which
she gave at her new studio, 109 East
Thirthy-ninth Street, especially to exhibit
it.
It was one of the beliefs of Mr. Tesla
that there was something unlucky about
posing for a picture and so he never
sat to any before he entered the studio
of the Princess. The room which she
had chosen did not have a skylight in
it and the much desired north exposure
was missing. So it was that at the
suggestion of Mr. Tesla, a cluster of
powerful incandescents was put up in
the corner of the apartment and the
rays, filtered through blue glass, were
just of the right quality. The portrait
was shown under the same illumination.
Mr. Tesla having solved the problem
of the artificial sun fell to thinking
about other parts of the universe, and
there he sat oblivious to his surroundings. So it was that the painter was able to produce a likeness in which there is no evidence that the subject was conscious that anybody was even watching him, much less studying his features from the other side of an easel.
Among those who attended the reception
were Mrs. C. B. Alexander, Henry
P. Davidson, the Countess de Ritterberg, and Mrs. E. T. Isham.
Source
Nikola Tesla's Famous "Blue Portrait" rediscovered at NordseeMuseum, Husum, Northern Germany